The jury returned a verdict in the case of ex-governor of the Khabarovsk Territory Sergei Furgal

The jury returned a verdict in the case of ex-governor of the Khabarovsk Territory Sergei Furgal on contract killings. RusNews reports this.

According to the jury’s verdict, Furgal’s guilt, as well as the rest of the defendants - Andrei Karepov, Marat Kadyrov and Andrei Paley - in the case of the attempted murder of businessman Alexander Smolsky has been proven, and they do not deserve leniency. The jury made the same decision regarding the murder of businessman Evgeniy Zori.

FSB officers detained Sergei Furgal in July 2020. The official was taken to Moscow, where he was subsequently arrested. Later, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Furgal’s resignation from the post of governor.

The politician is accused of murdering two people by an organized group for personal gain, as well as in order to hide another crime (paragraphs “a, g, h, j”, Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code), of attempted murder by an organized group in a generally dangerous way for personal gain purposes (paragraphs “a, f, g, h”, part 2 of article 105 with the use of part 3 of article 30 of the Criminal Code) and in the group illegal acquisition and storage of weapons and ammunition (part 3 of article 222 of the Criminal Code).

In November, Furgal was charged with new charges under articles on creating a criminal community (Article 210 of the Criminal Code) and seven counts of fraud on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code).

During the investigation, Sergei Furgal was in a pre-trial detention center. The politician faced a ban on visits and calls and other violations. On November 23, Furgal went on a hunger strike with a number of demands, including the interrogation of prosecution witnesses. On December 5, after the judge agreed to organize the interrogation, the prisoner stopped his hunger strike.

“To punish the innocent is a great sin, a mortal sin! I'm not a big Christian, but even I understand what a sin this is. Think about it, are you ready to take sin?” - said Sergei Furgal in his last word, addressing the court.

20:39 The jury also returned a verdict to Furgal in the case of the murder of the former head of the region Oleg Bulatov: guilt has been proven and does not deserve leniency. RusNews reports this.

The Telegram channel notes that the jury returned guilty verdicts for Andrei Paley, Andrei Karepov and Marat Kadyrov in all three episodes of the criminal case. The assessors decided that Kadyrov deserved leniency, but the rest did not.

• Furgal's detention caused a great response among Khabarovsk residents and other residents of the Far East. Some citizens decided to express disagreement with the charges brought against Furgal and went to a rally in Khabarovsk on July 11. Then the support campaigns spread to other regions. Meduza talked about the possible reasons for such widespread support for Furgal.